Master Chorale in Uneven Verdi Requiem

For all its gargantuan noise, for all its theatrical excess, a successful Verdi Requiem relies chiefly on four lone performers, the vocal quartet in the eye of the musical maelstrom.

Unfortunately for Paul Salamunovich and the Los Angeles Master Chorale--who ended their season with the masterwork in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Saturday afternoon--half of their original foursome came down sick in the final days of preparation. The last replacement, bass Charles Austin, arrived only hours before the performance.

So, much of this Requiem became marred by the poor ensemble singing of the quartet--Leona Mitchell,) Ruby Hinds (the other replacement), Eduardo Villa and Austin--which simply plugged along dutifully, sometimes laboriously.

It’s difficult to imagine, however, how any three singers might have successfully teamed with the independent-minded Mitchell, who sang every note as if it were a solo. Coming in early, cutting off late, scooping into notes, bending phrases, crescendoing always more than others, accenting bigger--some people might call Mitchell’s antics grandstanding, but plenty seemed to like it. From one standpoint though, it sounded like a waste of a gifted voice.

Salamunovich elsewhere shaped a disciplined Requiem. Calm amid pandemonium, elegantly active amid repose, the conductor gave the outbursts rock-solid power and coaxed pliant accompaniments. He stressed pianissimo as much as fortissimo. His choir sang with magnificent force, as required, and also displayed a poised blend, rich in the middle and lower voices and thus never shrill. His Sinfonia Orchestra played over its part-time head, accomplishing crispness and soft gloss, some trouble following the quartet notwithstanding.

Mezzo-soprano Hinds gave a stately account of her music; Villa supplied a bright, reliable tenor, Austin a lyrical, sensitive foundation. The Requiem was devoted to the memory of former Master Chorale singer Salli Terri.